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HTC Butterfly S vs Sony Xperia Z Ultra vs Galaxy Note 3

candra lesmana
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Saturday, June 29, 2013

There are some very
notable Android smartphones due for release over the next few months,
and today we want to consider three of them. We’re looking at the HTC
Butterfly S vs. Sony Xperia Z Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and we’ll
give you some key specs, although we’re particularly interested in
considering the display sizes of these.
The HTC Butterfly S and Sony Xperia Z Ultra have now been formally
introduced, so we have official specs on these two devices. However,
the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has not been unveiled yet, so for now we can
only give you rumored specs of this device. The Butterfly S is due to
release from the middle of July, first in some Asia Pacific countries,
and then following to more regions. Meanwhile the Xperia Z Ultra is
releasing at some point in Q3. No release date has yet been announced
for the Galaxy Note 3, but it’s widely expected to be debuted at IFA in
Berlin that takes place in September.
We’ll begin with the HTC Butterfly S,
and this phone is powered by a 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core
processor with Adreno 320 graphics, has a 5-inch Super LCD3 display
with resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 441 ppi, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of
internal storage (expandable via microSD to 64GB). It also has a
4-megapixel UltraPixel rear camera, 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera,
and 3200 mAh battery, and it runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean overlaid with
HTC Sense 5.
Moving on to the Sony Xperia Z Ultra,
this phone has a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, a
6.4-inch display with resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 344 ppi, 2GB of RAM
and 16GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD up to 64GB). It
also totes an 8-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front-facing camera,
3050 mAh battery and it runs the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating
system.
As we previously stated, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has not been
officially announced yet but leaked and rumored specs so far include a
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor or Exynos 5 octa-processor, a
13-megapixel camera, and the likelihood that it will run on Android
4.2.2 Jelly Bean, although that could well be Android 4.3 when it
finally arrives. For some time now, leaks and sources suggested the
display size would increase again from the Galaxy Note 2 to 5.99 or
6-inches, although a more recent leak suggested it may be 5.7-inches.
We cannot give full specs and features of each device here, but
hopefully we’ve given enough to give you some idea of what each phone
has to offer. They will all be top-end devices and no doubt there will
be pros and cons for each. Of course, personal preference of design and
the price will also play an important factor in any choice between
these three devices. What we really want to focus on at the moment
though, is display size.
When the original Samsung Galaxy Note appeared it had a screen size
of 5.3-inches, and at that time this triggered quite a debate about
whether a phone with such a large display would ever catch on. Many
felt that this was way too large and almost saw the Note as a gimmick,
and it was soon dubbed a ‘phablet,’ suggesting a hybrid of a phone and
tablet. However the huge success of the first Galaxy Note soon
dispelled these concerns, and in fact a trend soon followed for
smartphones with much larger displays.
Consider the display sizes the of the Butterfly S at 5-inches, the
whopping 6.4-inch display of the Xperia Z Ultra and the Galaxy Note,
expected to be between 5.7 and 6-inches, and you can see a wide variety
of display sizes to suit everybody. Indeed the 5-inch screen of the
Butterfly S now looks positively small when considering the Z Ultra. As
these three smartphones will all have impressive specs, it could well be
the display size that plays a major part in choosing one of them over
the other two. If you want to check out some videos of the Butterfly S
then you may be interested in our previous article here, or for the Xperia Z Ultra here. We’ve also embedded two more videos for you below this story, one on the Butterfly S and the other on the Xperia Z Ultra.
It seems that ultimately the consumer wins, as these three phones
represent a wide variety of display sizes, but we’d really like to know
what you think about this. Does the display size of a smartphone now
influence your decision about which to purchase? Are you a fan of
larger or smaller displays? If you could pick the HTC Butterfly S, the
Sony Xperia Z Ultra or the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and adjust the display
size to suit you, what size would you choose? Send your comments to let
us know.